For many of us with fast-paced modern lifestyles, remembering to water our houseplants is not as easy as remembering our morning cup of coffee. But fortunately, if you ever make coffee at home, and if you forget to water your plants as much as I do, there's an easy answer for a plant pick-me-up.
I must confess, I don't know much about gardening, and I only keep houseplants for aesthetic and air quality values. But when my grandmother passed away, I inherited her houseplants as well as a couple of tips from her that can help perk up the plants if they happen to find themselves wilting away for lack of attention.
Most weary plants can be pruned down to the part of the stem where green is found. This will not only help plants grow thicker, but also give new life to them when they are fading. But here's the greatest tip I remember from Grandma: When you make a pot of coffee in the morning to fuel your day, your plants can benefit from the grounds! Just spread your used coffee grounds on the top of the soil, and water as usual. You might be surprised at how perky they will become.
Image: Amanda Johnson
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My Starbucks also gives out bags of their leftover coffee grounds for plants. Sometimes they'll have a basket of them, but if not, you can always just ask.
I've tried this a few times, and the coffee always gets a layer of mold growing on top of it. I've tried mixing it into the soil as well, and the same thing happened.
coffee grounds and crumbled egg shells have worked wonders for our plants over the years!
I add very watered down coffee to our indoor plants, and grounds to our outdoor plants. I'm not sure all plants would appreciate the acidity but my umbrella tree and my jade plant appreciate a little pick-me-up. For the indoor plants, I'll run a half pot of water through the used grounds, and then after it's cooled I water that down with filtered water and add that to the plants.
This is a wonderful idea; but which is it? Is this only for certain species, does it change soil acidity, do the grounds have to be diluted?
I've had the same problem as joshfrink- my layer of coffee grounds always get moldy. If I try to mix them into the soil a bit, the whole thing gets moldy!
er... it's better to mix your coffee grounds into compost -- or if you have actual patch of ground, put it there. Because, as people have said, it gets moldy as it begins to decompose. A sprinkling shouldn't hurt, though, but it will be unsightly if you slap the entire filter full on top of the soil.
As an aside, the same effects can be had w/ tea dregs (black is supposedly the best).
Yep, mold. Then the fungus gnats move in. Harmless, but extremely annoying little things.
@Amanda: My mom did the same thing. She would rinse coffee grounds & sprinkle just a little into soil of houseplants (more in the veggie garden outdoors).
@just_kazari: thanks for answering my question ... I wondered about tea bags.
Side note ... one of my chores growing up was to dust the leaves of large houseplants with milk ... the plants were beautiful. I tried using banana peel for my own plants per a post here ... it worked wonders for a dusty large rubber tree plant that I bought. I was able to dust the entire plant with just half of a banana peel and made sure that I didn't leave any banana strings or pieces behind. I was concerned that this would lead to fruit flies ... no fruit flies here! Bananas are loaded with potassium; so, many gardening books recommend putting chopped banana peels in garden soil. In addition, banana oil is used in some natural cleaning products.
Little habit of mine - my herbs are right behind the coffee pot, so I make a point of overfilling the carafe with water before I dump it into the reservoir. The rest goes in the plats so they never go without water!
Does anyone know the name of the plant in the picture? We inherited one from my mother in law and I have no idea what it is.
Garlic works as an antifungal, so I make a mixture of leftover coffee grinds (which adds nitrogen to the soil, for those who were asking) and mashed garlic on the stove, watered down of course. It also keeps away the neighborhood cats from my little outdoor bed! I keep the leftover mixture til I need it for next time, as the garlic needs to be re-applied every few days to be effective against cats and fungi.
EatLoveHair: it looks a bit like a corn plant (house plant, not the crop).
Coffee grounds can also change the acidity of the soil and can decrease growth and even damage non-acid loving plants so beware.